State v. Tisdel
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Idaho |
| Citation | 607 P.2d 1326,101 Idaho 52 |
| Docket Number | No. 12317,12317 |
| Parties | The STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Robert Lee TISDEL, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Decision Date | 25 March 1980 |
Page 1326
v.
Robert Lee TISDEL, Defendant-Appellant.
[101 Idaho 53]
Page 1327
Kent B. Power, Boise, for defendant-appellant.David H. Leroy, Atty. Gen., Jean R. Uranga, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for plaintiff-respondent.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant-appellant Robert Lee Tisdel was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under the age of sixteen. Count III was severed and subsequently dismissed. At the trial on Counts I and II, the prosecutrix, who was ten years old at the time of the alleged acts, testified that the defendant committed the acts charged in Count II. Her mother testified that she saw the defendant commit the acts charged in both counts. Defendant denied ever having any sexual conduct with the prosecutrix. The jury found defendant guilty as to Count II and not guilty as to Count I. Defendant appeals his conviction.
Defendant first attacks his conviction on the grounds that there was insufficient corroboration of the prosecutrix' testimony to sustain his conviction.
It has been the rule in Idaho that corroboration of a prosecutrix' testimony is necessary in Idaho in order to sustain a conviction under I.C. § 18-6607. 1 State v. Froelich, 96 Idaho 685, 535 P.2d 658 (1975); State v. Shannon, 95 Idaho 299, 507 P.2d 808 (1973); State v. Hall, 95 Idaho 110, 504 P.2d 383 (1972). Corroboration in a case of this type "may be by direct evidence or by evidence of surrounding circumstances where . . . the reputation of the prosecutrix for truth . . . is unimpeached and her testimony is not contradictory nor inconsistent with the admitted facts of the case, nor inherently improbable." State v. Myers, 94 Idaho 570, 572, 494 P.2d 574, 576 (1972). Accord, State v. Ross, 92 Idaho 709, 449 P.2d 369 (1968); State v. Tope, 86 Idaho 462, 387 P.2d 888 (1963).
In the present case, the victim's mother testified that she saw the defendant commit the alleged acts. We can think of no evidence which could more directly corroborate the victim's testimony. Defendant argues, however, that parental corroboration by itself should not be sufficient, that some independent fact or circumstance should be needed to corroborate the victim's testimony.
In State v. Haskins, 49 Idaho 384, 386, 289 P. 609, 609 (1930), this Court held that "the testimony of the mother in calling for her children and finding this one alone away with the defendant, and her relation of what followed, corroborates the child's testimony sufficiently under the rule announced by this court." Testimony by a physician provided the corroboration that a crime had occurred in Haskins, but the only corroboration as to who committed it was supplied by the mother. We held that to be sufficient corroboration to support defendant's conviction.
The only distinction between Haskins and the present case is that here the mother is corroborating both the occurrence of the act and...
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State v. Lankford, Nos. 15760
...contributed to the conviction or the sentence imposed.' State v. Tucker, 97 Idaho at 4, 539 P.2d at 564 (1975); see also State v. Tisdel, 101 Idaho 52, 54, 607 P.2d 1326, 1328 (1980). We have also repeatedly stated that we will not attempt to second-guess strategic and tactical choices made......
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State v. Aragon, 14771
...read in their entirety, as a whole, not in their isolated parts. State v. Griffiths, 101 Idaho 163, 610 P.2d 522 (1980); State v. Tisdel, 101 Idaho 52, 607 P.2d 1326 (1980); State v. Peterman, 100 Idaho 269, 596 P.2d 442 (1979). In reading the instructions as a whole, we note that they are ......
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Estes v. State, Nos. 15931
...to the conviction or the sentence imposed." State v. Tucker, 97 Idaho at 4, 12, 539 P.2d at 564 (1975); see also State v. Tisdel, 101 Idaho 52, 54, 607 P.2d 1326, 1328 (1980). We have also repeatedly stated that we will not attempt to second-guess strategic and tactical choices made by tria......
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Koontz v. Koontz, No. 13045
...submitted at trial, which was meager, the trial court calculated the value of the pension and concluded that the pension was worth less [101 Idaho 52] Page 1326 than the value of the house, and awarded the equity in the house to the wife, and the pension interest to the husband. The wife mo......
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State v. Aragon, 14771
...read in their entirety, as a whole, not in their isolated parts. State v. Griffiths, 101 Idaho 163, 610 P.2d 522 (1980); State v. Tisdel, 101 Idaho 52, 607 P.2d 1326 (1980); State v. Peterman, 100 Idaho 269, 596 P.2d 442 (1979). In reading the instructions as a whole, we note that they are ......
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State v. Lankford, s. 15760
...contributed to the conviction or the sentence imposed.' State v. Tucker, 97 Idaho at 4, 539 P.2d at 564 (1975); see also State v. Tisdel, 101 Idaho 52, 54, 607 P.2d 1326, 1328 (1980). We have also repeatedly stated that we will not attempt to second-guess strategic and tactical choices made......
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Estes v. State, s. 15931
...to the conviction or the sentence imposed." State v. Tucker, 97 Idaho at 4, 12, 539 P.2d at 564 (1975); see also State v. Tisdel, 101 Idaho 52, 54, 607 P.2d 1326, 1328 (1980). We have also repeatedly stated that we will not attempt to second-guess strategic and tactical choices made by tria......
-
Koontz v. Koontz, 13045
...submitted at trial, which was meager, the trial court calculated the value of the pension and concluded that the pension was worth less [101 Idaho 52] Page 1326 than the value of the house, and awarded the equity in the house to the wife, and the pension interest to the husband. The wife mo......